… from the more music station, KSTN, Stockton! …
[Description by Barry Salberg]
Upon leaving KYA in 1962, Bill Drake was hired to split time as program director of both KYNO in Fresno, and KSTN in Stockton, California.
KSTN owner Knox LaRue (Dec. 18, 1922 – Dec. 22, 2004) was a business partner with Gene Chenault (KYNO) in various ventures. They co-hired Drake upon the recommendation of Jane Swain, LaRue’s GM at KSTN, who had worked with Drake in Atlanta. While the classic KMAK-KYNO battle of Fresno has been well documented, KSTN and LaRue are certainly owed their debt as well.
A pioneer of the top-40 genre, LaRue built KSTN in 1949, and began playing the popular music of the day. As the rock era began, KSTN just stayed with it, providing a training ground for numerous talents. These rare artifacts from Drake’s Stockton days are clearly precursors to the Johnny Mann acapellas and Bill Drake-voiced jock intro’s and station ID’s of the RKO boss era. There’s little question that other elements of the Drake format were also initiated and honed during his stint at KSTN in the early ’60’s.